Iowa-Bred Filly Catches Eye of Reid, Frankel

by Dan JohnsonLovethatlegend is poised to net a record sale price for an Iowa-bred horse. Providing she passes a veterinary check, Lovethatlegend will be sold for $365,000 and be sent to New York to join the stable of Bobby Frankel.

Owners Richard and Vickie Cosaert of Logan, Iowa, agreed to sell the 2-year-old filly to bloodstock agent Mark Reid and Bobby Frankel, but said the decision was not easy.

"It's difficult," Richard Cosaert said. "Horses like this don't come along very often. We're not rich people, and we turned down an awful good offer from another agent several days before taking this one."

The filly will run her last race for the Cosaerts in the $65,000 Iowa Sorority on "Iowa Classic Night" at Prairie Meadows on Aug. 30. That carries a risk because if the filly is injured, the sale is off.

"There's a little bit of risk, but my wife and I talked about it and this is our Kentucky Derby to us," Cosaert said, "We feel strongly that we want her to run in this race. We bred the filly to run in Iowa."

Should she pass the post-race veterinary exam--Reid said about a quarter of the checks do find problems--Lovethatlegend will be sent to Frankel's stable in New York.

"She's very good where she is," Reid said. "Now, we'll see if she can make the transition to Broadway. We think she can, obviously, or wouldn't invest that kind of money. She's certainly fast enough."

By comparison, the highest sale price for an Iowa-bred yearling is $52,000, paid for Miss Abbey Lee in 1998. Sure Shot Biscuit and Lady Tamworth were sold privately early in their racing careers. Sumthintotalkabout was sold as a broodmare after she was retired. All their owners said those sale prices were dwarfed by that of Lovethatlegend.

"I think that would have to be by far the record for an Iowa-bred," said Nancy Robertson, who raced Sumthintotalkabout.

Lovethatlegend has won two of three races and had a rough trip when she lost the Prairie Gold Lassie by a length. Her last race was against males, and she crushed a field of Prairie Meadows' best 2-year-olds.

That caught the eye of Reid, who has gained a reputation as being one of the nation's top bloodstock agents. He recommended the purchase of Medaglia d'Oro, You, Midas Eyes, and Labamta Babe.

"She merited such a good price, because she runs fast and she beat the boys very easily last time," Reid said. "Both her Beyer and Ragozin speed figures were very, very good compared to the other top fillies in the country."

Lovethatlegend is the second 2-year-old at Prairie Meadows to be sold for a high price this summer. Dashboard Drummer, an Oklahoma-bred, was sold for $200,000 in July and went on to win the $100,000 Sapling Stakes in New Jersey.

If the sale is completed, it would be the second straight year that Frankel has picked up a horse from an Iowa owner. Last year, he bought Peace Rules from Maggi Moss of Des Moines for $350,000.